In 480 B.C., the mighty Persian king Xerxes led a massive force to the narrow mountain pass called Thermopylae, anticipating no significant resistance in his bid to conquer Greece. But the Greeks, led by Leonidas and a small army of Spartan warriors, took the battle to the Persians and nearly halted their advance.
Paul Cartledge's riveting, authoritative account of King Leonidas and the legendary 300 illuminates this valiant endeavor that changed the way future generations would think about combat, courage, and death.
Family Tree of the Achaemenid Royal Family - Maps
PROLOGUE: SETTING THE AWFUL SCENE
Chapter 1. THE ANCIENT WORLD IN 500 BCE: FROM INDIA TO THE AEGEAN
Chapter 2. THE DYNAMICS OF EMPIRE: PERSIA OF THE ACHAEMENIDS, 485
Chapter 3. HELLAS: THE HELLENIC WORLD IN 485
Chapter 4. SPARTA 485: A UNIQUE CULTURE AND SOCIETY
Chapter 5. THERMOPYLAE I: MOBILIZATION
Chapter 6. THERMOPYLAE II: PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE
Chapter 7. THERMOPYLAE III: THE BATTLE
Chapter 8. THE THERMOPYLAE LEGEND I: ANTIQUITY
Chapter 9. THE THERMOPYLAE LEGEND II: FROM ANTIQUITY TO MODERNITY
EPILOGUE: THERMOPYLAE: TURNING-POINT IN WORLD HISTORY
Appendix 1: The Invention of History: Herodotus and Other Ancient Sources
Appendix 2: Herodotus’s Persian Muster-Lists: A Translation
Appendix 3: Herodotus – Antidote to Fundamentalism